Due to a recent conversation with a colleague, I was
inspired and refreshed about the future of the LGBTQ family
equality movement. This colleague was having dinner and saw a young
girl walk by with a black backpack—sounds generically normal and
fairly uneventful, right? On this backpack was a pin that had the
following message: “Hate is not one of my family values.” Wow.
How do we get the whole world to see that? What an enlightened and
beautiful message…. Sometimes the power of youth can be
overlooked and seen as cute and sweet—but not necessarily as a
strong force. I am overwhelmed by the majority of youth that I have
come into contact with; they predominantly believe that family IS a
place made of love and they aren’t imprisoned by the strict and
regimented views that many take on the topic of family. I remember
when my mother first came out to me and the look of fear in her
eyes that this would upset me, hurt me, or would affect me
negatively. I also remember thinking about how much happier and in
her own skin my mother appeared—and this would only add positive
dynamics to our family. I challenge you today to engage your youth
in a conversation about family…..we are most certainly nearing a
paradigm shift where family isn’t seen as WHO it is made of in
terms of people but WHAT it is made of—that being love.
inspired and refreshed about the future of the LGBTQ family
equality movement. This colleague was having dinner and saw a young
girl walk by with a black backpack—sounds generically normal and
fairly uneventful, right? On this backpack was a pin that had the
following message: “Hate is not one of my family values.” Wow.
How do we get the whole world to see that? What an enlightened and
beautiful message…. Sometimes the power of youth can be
overlooked and seen as cute and sweet—but not necessarily as a
strong force. I am overwhelmed by the majority of youth that I have
come into contact with; they predominantly believe that family IS a
place made of love and they aren’t imprisoned by the strict and
regimented views that many take on the topic of family. I remember
when my mother first came out to me and the look of fear in her
eyes that this would upset me, hurt me, or would affect me
negatively. I also remember thinking about how much happier and in
her own skin my mother appeared—and this would only add positive
dynamics to our family. I challenge you today to engage your youth
in a conversation about family…..we are most certainly nearing a
paradigm shift where family isn’t seen as WHO it is made of in
terms of people but WHAT it is made of—that being love.